Smart plugs, smart sockets and smart adaptors

ABSTRACT

A smart socket is provided. The smart socket has a set of power sockets, configured for a set of power pins of a smart plug to plug into, a driving pin and a set of detection pins, configured for forming a circuit with a set of feedback pins of a smart plug when the set of power pins is plugged into the power sockets, and an identification code module, configured for obtaining an identification code of an electric appliance, from the circuit, to which the smart plug belongs.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a)on Patent Application No(s).100,147,901, filed in Taiwan, Republic ofChina on Dec. 22, 2011, the entire contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is related to smart power monitoring technology.

BACKGROUND

Electric meters are popularly used in houses, offices, industrialplants, or specific places for monitoring overall power consumptionthereof.

To precisely measure the power consumption, the electric meters can bedisposed on each electric appliance. However, this manner costs a lotand is impracticable. Sometimes, a compromise power consumptionmeasurement method is used, where the electric meters are only disposedon a power socket for measuring electric appliances that are providedpower by the power socket. Predictably, this manner fails to preciselymeasure the operation or standby power consumption of each of theelectric appliances.

Therefore, an apparatus which helps to identify various electricappliances and to monitor the power consumption of electric applianceswill be for establishment of a smart power grid.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides a smart socket. The smart socketcomprises a set of power sockets, configured for a set of power pins ofa smart plug to plug into; a driving pin and a set of detection pins,configured for forming a circuit with a set of feedback pins of a smartplug when the set of power pins is plugged into the power sockets; andan identification code module, configured for obtaining anidentification code of an electric appliance, from the circuit, to whichthe smart plug belongs.

The present disclosure also provides a smart plug. The smart plugcomprises a set of power pins, for plugging into a set of power socketsof a smart socket; and a set of feedback pins, configured for forming acircuit with a driving pin and a set of detection pins of a smart socketwhen the set of power pins and the set of power sockets are connected toeach other.

The present disclosure also provides a smart adaptor. The smart adaptorcomprises a set of adapting pins, configured for a set of power pins ofa normal plugs to plug into, and for adapting the set of power pins to aset of power sockets of a smart socket; and a set of feedback pins,configured for forming a circuit with a driving pin and a set ofdetection pins of the smart socket when the power pins and the powersockets are connected to each other.

A detailed description is given in the following embodiments withreference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure can be more fully understood by reading thesubsequent detailed description and examples with references made to theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A is a pictorial drawing of a smart plug according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1B is a pictorial drawing of a smart socket which matches the smartplugs in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 1C shows the connection between the smart plug in FIG. 1A and thesmart socket in FIG. 1B.

FIG. 2A is a pictorial drawing of a smart plug (NEMA 1-15 B style)according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2B is a pictorial drawing of a smart socket which matches the smartplugs in FIG. 2A.

FIGS. 2C, 2D and 2E show the connection between the smart plug in FIG.2A and the smart socket in FIG. 2B.

FIG. 2D shows the transmission circuit and identification code circuitof the present invention.

FIG. 2E shows the transmission circuit and identification code circuitof the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a smart adaptor of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 shows another smart adaptor of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 shows another smart adaptor of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description is the best-contemplated mode of carrying outthe disclosure. This description is made for the purpose of illustratingthe general principles of the disclosure and should not be taken in alimiting sense. The scope of the disclosure is best determined byreference to the appended claims.

Smart Plugs And Socket—Embodiment I

The present disclosure provides smart plugs and smart sockets. The smartplugs and sockets of the present disclosure can be connected to eachother to form a particular circuit for detecting an identification code(ID) of an electric appliance. The terms “smart plugs” and “smartsockets” are used hereinafter to distinguish the “smart plugs” and“smart sockets” from the “normal plugs” and “normal sockets”. The “smartplugs/socket” and the “normal plugs /socket” may be the same inappearance but different in structure. The smart plugs and socket of thepresent disclosure will be described in detail in the followingembodiments in accordance with FIGS. 1-5. For illustration, the smartplugs/sockets shown in FIGS. 1-5 are in NEMA 1-15 A style or B style,but the smart plugs/sockets of the present disclosure should not belimited to any particular appearance or style.

FIG. 1A is a pictorial drawing of a smart plug according to anembodiment of the present disclosure, FIG. 1B is a pictorial drawing ofa smart socket which matches the smart plugs in FIG. 1A, and FIG. 1Cshows the connection between the smart plug in FIG. 1A and the smartsocket in FIG. 1B. As shown FIG. 1A, the smart plug 110 is connected toan electric appliance (not shown) via a wire 116. The smart plug 110 notonly has a set of power pins 112 which is similar to those in a normalplug, but also a set of feedback pins 114. It can be found in FIG. 1Bthat the smart socket 120 which matches the smart plug 110 not only hasa set of power sockets 122 and a set of socket pins 124 which aresimilar to those in a normal socket, but also a set of detection pins126, a driving pin 132, an identification code module 128, and a networkmodule 130. The socket pins 124 are connected to a power source (whichis usually provided by a power company in alternating current, but thepresent disclosure should not be limited thereto). When the power pins112 of the smart plug 110 plugs into the power sockets 122, the powerpins 112 are connected to the socket pins 124 and further electricallyconnected to the power source. It should be noted that when the powerpins 112 are plugged into the power sockets 122, at least one of thedetection pins 126 and the driving pin 132 of the smart socket 120 willcontact with the feedback pins 114 of the smart plug 110 to form acircuit. Then, the identification code module 128 in the smart socket120 can use the identification code obtained from the circuit to knowwhat the electric appliance of the smart plug 110 is, and output theidentification code to the outside via the network module 130.

To make sure that the circuit works normally, the feedback pins 114should be properly insulated from the power pins 112. Therefore, asshown in FIG. 1A, the feedback pins 114 are disposed on an insulationlayer 115, which has a proper thickness and cover part of the power pins112 that the socket pins 124 do not contact. Similarly, as shown in FIG.1B, the detection pins 126 and the driving pin 132 should be insulatedfrom the socket pins 124 and the power pins 112. In an embodiment, theidentification code module 128 and the network module 130 of the smartsocket 120 are disposed in an insulated envelope. However, it should benoted that the pins in the present disclosure should not be limited tobeing disposed at any particular place as long as the feedback pins 114of the smart plug 110 can contact with at least one of the detectionpins 126 and a driving pin 132 of the smart socket 120 to form the saidcircuit for identifying the electric appliance.

The principle that the identification code module 128 of the presentdisclosure generates an identification code will be discussed here inaccordance with FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C. As shown in FIG. 1A and 1B, the setof feedback pins 114 in the smart plug 110 is composed of a plurality ofmetal pins P5˜P1 and Pd (in this embodiment, pin P4 is removed forforming an exemplary identification code), and in the smart socket 120,the detection pins 126, which comprises P5′˜P1′ in this embodiment, andthe driving pin 132 are respectively used to contact the said pins P5˜P1and Pd. As the smart plug 110 is plugged into the smart socket 120 andcontacts the socket pins 124, a detection signal sent from theidentification code module 128 of the smart socket 120 can be deliveredto the feedback pins of the smart plug 110 via the driving pin 132, andthen the identification code module 128 obtains a set of feedbacksignals from the circuit which is composed of the driving pins 132, thefeedback pins 114 and the detection pins 126. In this embodiment, sinceeach of the existing pins P5 and P3˜P1 feedback the detection signal andmay be regarded as a digit “1”, while the removed pin P4 (nonexistentfor exemplary purpose) results no feedback signal and may be regarded asa digit “0”, the detection pins 126 may obtain the feedback signal inpattern of digits “10111” corresponding to the detected signals on P5′,P4′, P3′, P2′ and P1′ respectively. This pattern can be deemed as theidentification code of the electric appliance which corresponds to thefeedback pins 114 in this embodiment.

From the five pairs of the corresponding pins (where pins P5˜P1respectively correspond to pin P5′˜P1′), the combination of feedbackpins 114 can at most stand for 32 (2⁵) electric appliances. In anembodiment, the identification code with all null value “00000” can beused to stand for “something not an electric appliance.” In anembodiment, the identification code is used to determine whether to turnon or turn off a safety switch which controls the connection between thesocket pins and the power source. For example, when a nullidentification code is identified, the safety switch is turned off bythe smart socket 120 for avoiding electrical hazard. Note that the fivepairs of the pins in these embodiments are shown for illustration, andthe number and the physical location of the pins in the presentdisclosure should not be limited thereto.

The smart plug 110 in the above embodiments does not “actively” send thedetection signal. The following introduces another embodiment of thepresent disclosure where the smart plug 110 “actively” sends anidentification code.

Smart Plugs And Socket—Embodiment II

FIG. 2A is a pictorial drawing of a smart plug (NEMA 1-15 B style)according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, FIG. 2B is apictorial drawing of a smart socket which matches the smart plugs inFIG. 2A, and FIG. 2C shows the connection between the smart plug in FIG.2A and the smart socket in FIG. 2B. In this embodiment, the smart plugs210 comprises a set of power pins 212, a power ground pin 216 (in columnshape) and a set of feedback pins 214, where the set of feedback pins214 is simply a metal layer which is insulated from the power ground pin216 by an insulation layer 215. Similarly, in this embodiment, the smartsocket 220 has a set of power sockets 222, a set of socket pins 224, asocket pins 234, a set of detection pins 226, a receiving circuit 232,an identification code module 228 and a network module 230. When thepower pins 212 of the smart plug 210 plug into the power sockets 222,the power pins 212 contacts the socket pins 224 and thus obtainelectricity from the power source. When the power ground pin 216 and thefeedback pins 214 are respectively connected to the socket ground pins234 and the detection pins 226 of the smart socket 220 to form aparticular circuit, the transmission circuit 270 in the smart plug 210can further transmit a 48-bits identification code, an 8-bits group codeand an 8-bit CRC certification code, which are generated by theidentification code circuit 260, to the receiving circuit 232 of thesmart socket 220. Then, the identification code module 228 checks thesaid codes, and the network module outputs the identification code.

To make sure that the circuit works normally, the feedback pin 214 hasto be insulated from the power ground pin 216. As such, there is aninsulation layer 215 disposed between the power ground pin 216 and thefeedback pin 214 for separating the power ground pin 216 from thefeedback pin 214, which makes sure that the socket ground pin 234 andthe detection pins 226 of the smart socket 220 will be respectivelyconnected to the power ground pin 216 and feedback pin 214 of the smartplug 210.

The following discusses the transmission principle of the identificationcode of the present disclosure in accordance with FIGS. 2C, 2D, and 2E.As shown in these Figs, the set of feedback pins 214 and the powerground pin 216 of the smart plug 210 are respectively connected to thedetection pins 226 and the socket ground pin 234 of the smart socket220. Then, the transmission circuit 270 is triggered by a direct currentfrom the receiving circuit 232, and “actively” transmits the 64-bitidentification code generated by the identification code circuit 260(for example, a ROM) to the receiving circuit 232 via the circuit whichis formed due to the connection between the smart socket 220 and smartplug 210. After the transmission, the identification code module 228checks the identification code, and the network module outputs theidentification code.

The generation of the identification code in this embodiment isdifferent from that in the previous embodiment since the smart plug 210in this embodiment is trigged by a direct current and “actively” sendsthe detection signal. Note that these embodiments are described forillustration purposes only. Those skilled in the art can appropriatelymodify and arrange the components in these embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

Smart Adaptor

The smart plugs and smart sockets of the present disclosure have beendescribed in detail in previous embodiment. To adapt to traditionalpower plugs and sockets, the present disclosure further provide smartadaptors for the smart plugs and sockets previously described. The smartadaptor for the plugs is shown in FIG. 3, where the wire 116 of thesmart plug 110 in FIG. 1A is replaced by an adapting socket 310. Theadapting socket 310 can be used for connecting the normal plug 320 andfurther to an electric appliance of the normal plug 320 (not shown). Thesmart adaptor for the sockets is shown in FIG. 4, where the socket pins124 of the smart socket 120 in FIG. 1B is extended from the case asadapting pins 410 for plugging into a normal socket 420 and thereforeelectrically connecting to a power source (not shown).

The present disclosure further provides another smart adaptor in NEMA1-15 B style. As shown in FIG. 5, the smart adaptor 510 is basicallyequal to the smart plug 210 in FIG. 2A shaped in sheet without the wire,the power pins 212 and the power ground pin 216. The smart adaptor 510has an identification code circuit, the transmission circuit, and ametal cylinder 540 including a feedback pin 514 and insulation layer515. The adapting socket 512 and the metal cylinder 540 are used for asmart socket to connect with the power pins 522 and the power ground pin526 of the normal plug 520.

Network Module

The network modules in previous embodiments (for example, the networkmodule 130 in FIG. 1B) can further send the identification code of theelectric appliance to the network or information processing equipmentsuch as digital electric meters, computers, or power source switches.With the smart plugs and smart sockets of the present disclosure, onecan easily monitor power consumption of electric appliances when therelated network modules are connected to the digital electric meters.Therefore, the present disclosure is advantageous in power monitoringwhich usually encourages further power saving. In addition, the presentdisclosure can help housekeepers to manage their household electricappliances by monitoring the electric appliances with the identificationcodes and determining whether they consume power abnormally. From apower safety aspect, the power sockets are usually a risk factor,especially for children. In some embodiments, there may be a powersource switch disposed in the smart socket of the present disclosure forimmediately turning the power off when an unexpected object is insertedto a power socket. Similarly, a mechanism could be derived to turn thepower on only when an expected plug is inserted to the power socket.

While the disclosure has been described by way of example and in termsof the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosureis not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it isintended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements (aswould be apparent to those skilled in the art). Therefore, the scope ofthe appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so asto encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.

1. A smart socket, comprising: a set of power sockets, configured for aset of power pins of a smart plug to plug into; a driving pin and a setof detection pins, configured for forming a circuit with a set offeedback pins of a smart plug when the set of power pins is plugged intothe power sockets; and an identification code module, configured forobtaining an identification code of an electric appliance, from thecircuit, to which the smart plug belongs.
 2. The smart socket as claimedin claim 1, further comprising at least two socket pins, wherein thepower pins electrically connect to a power source via the at least twosocket pins.
 3. The smart socket as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising an adapting pin which electrically connects to a power sourcethrough plugging into a normal socket.
 4. The smart socket as claimed inclaim 1, further comprising a network module for transmitting theidentification code to a network.
 5. The smart socket as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the detection pins are insulated from the power pins.6. The smart socket as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a safetyswitch for controlling the connection between the socket pins and thepower source, wherein the safety switch is turned on or offcorresponding to the identification code.
 7. A smart plug, comprising: aset of power pins, for plugging into a set of power sockets of a smartsocket; and a set of feedback pins, configured for forming a circuitwith a driving pin and a set of detection pins of a smart socket whenthe set of power pins and the set of power sockets are connected to eachother.
 8. The smart plug as claimed in claim 7, wherein the power pinsare electrically connected to an electric appliance.
 9. The smart plugas claimed in claim 7, further comprising an adapting socket, configuredfor a normal plug of an electric appliance to plug into.
 10. The smartplug as claimed in claim 7, wherein the feedback pins are insulated fromthe power pins.
 11. The smart plug as claimed in claim 7, furthercomprises an identification code circuit for generating anidentification code.
 12. The smart plug as claimed in claim 11, furthercomprising a transmission circuit, which is coupled to theidentification code circuit, for actively transmitting theidentification code to the identification code module when the set ofpower pins and the set of power sockets are connected to each other. 13.A smart adaptor, comprising: a set of adapting pins, configured for aset of power pins of a normal plugs to plug into, and for adapting theset of power pins to a set of power sockets of a smart socket; and a setof feedback pins, configured for forming a circuit with a driving pinand a set of detection pins of the smart socket when the power pins andthe power sockets are connected to each other.
 14. The smart adaptor asclaimed in claim 13, further comprising an identification code circuitfor generating an identification code.
 15. The smart adaptor as claimedin claim 13, further comprising a transmission circuit, which is coupledto the identification code circuit, for transmitting the identificationcode to the identification code module when the power pins and the powersockets are connected to each other.